I can remember as a very young child my mother rubbing my brothers and I down with sunscreen from head to toe at the boat ramp as my dad would launch the boat. As the years wore on it became our own responsibility to make sure we got plenty of screen on. Unfortunately As I got older I wore less and less sunscreen especially while surfing. For me surfing and sunscreen did not mix, the sunscreen would get in your eyes and would burn or it would get on your board and make it slick; besides every good surfer at Folly had a dark tan. Every time I would walk out the door to go fishing or surfing my parents would say, “Make sure you wear your sunscreen!” Sometimes I would; but most of the time I did not.
A couple of years back I took a surf trip to Barbados. It was November so most of my summer tan had faded away and my biggest fear was getting down there and getting burnt the first day and then being miserable the rest of the week. I do believe this was a turning point for me as far as sun exposure because for the first time in my life I was truly scared of the sun. I packed and wore high SPF waterproof sunscreen including, baby waterproof sunscreen for my face (it does not burn your eyes as it washes down your forehead) special lip balm and zinc oxide the entire trip. I also wore a long sleeve rash guard the entire time I surfed that protected my entire upper body. I took a wide brim hat with me as well and wore it any time I was out of the water. The trip was perfect with some truly great waves and no sun burn the entire time. Since that trip I have tried to stay on the sunscreen and hat program to limit my exposure.
Over the last week CharlestonFishing.com member “osprey 7” has been sharing with ChalrestonFishing.com readers his most recent dealings with basal cell carcinoma on the “Off Topic Page” The link to his post “ sunscreen is for sissies” is as follows:
http://old.charlestonfishing.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=101313
Thanks to “osprey 7’s ” post I know I will be all the more diligent in